Gas Station
by VesperChan
Summary: Three stowaways make Sakura's job a little more difficult than she bargained for. They say they know it will be worth her while, but she has a hard time believing one gas station could make up for all the trouble she has to put up with as she drives three escaped harem boys across the red, red world.
1. Chapter 1

GAS STATION

* * *

Sakura glared at the crack in her rearview mirror and reached for it again, tilting it to see higher into the back of her skeleton rig. She was supposed to be empty, towing nothing, but the back still dragged with an extra weight. She felt it in the drifts, when she turned into the winds and expected to fight the gusts, her back end stayed down like it was filled with fuel, and now she was hearing things from back there.

Marauders from the dunes? She hadn't stopped since the Avalon Alcove, an oasis colony hidden deep in the earth, but knew that passing through the dunes was to risk an encounter with the sand riders and the sand people. She didn't doubt some of them were talented enough to sneak up behind her rig and attach themselves to her rear with a little help.

Of all rides to pick up trouble!

Sakura turned hard to the side and then countered to send her back end careening sideways, nearly tipping. If someone was hiding in the back fuel tank they would be sourly tossed. She ripped out the wheel to her rig and latched it onto the back of her belt buckle, linking it into the komodo dragon armor that moved over her backside like living scales. She slid from the driver's seat like her armor's namesake and stalked around her rig like a snake.

She leveled a sawed off double barrel with her left side and kicked off the latch. The metal came away shirking on hinges until it banged into the side and bounced before settling. A pair of blinking eyes stared up into the light of the afternoon sun, haloed around his hooded face, while a second and third face turned away entirely.

Sakura had been right about the stowaways, wrong about the sand people theory.

One of the males groaned and shrank further back, hiding his face behind gold shackles. Sakura's eyes went to what little was left of their clothing and cursed out loud when she recognized the court attire of Seraglio boys and the gold ink tattoos.

"Shit."

* * *

Sakura kept her gun close to her hand, set across her lap and she reclined against the base of a ruin while the boys ran out to stretch their legs. The blond one had too much energy and, like a mutt, needed to be walked regularly. She called him mutt in her head, even though he had told her his name after their discovery. She hated to admit how quickly she had forgotten it.

Off to the side the one with teased black hair, styled in a way that set him aside from the common, starving boys, crossed his arms at Mutt's excitement and scowled. Beside him the other dark hair lad smiled in a stiff manner and offered some words of advice? Sakura couldn't read lips, but even if she could she wouldn't have cared enough to eavesdrop.

"Sakura!" the blond screamed for her across the dirt. She tensed on reflex and readied her shotgun, eyes roving behind the vizor she hadn't removed since the day before when she found them.

One of the two boys hit the blond and cursed at him. "You're going to get shot that way."

"What?" Sakura gruffly interjected, standing from her crouch under the shade of the ruined wall.

She kept her gun in hand never the less, just in case they decided they could drive her rig without her. Just because she had let them live and agreed to take them where she was going didn't mean she trusted them to not slit her throat in her sleep. She wished she had Karin with her as a second.

"I'm hungry. When do we get to eat again?" he chirped, sounding more cherry than the other two.

"We just ate."

"Y-yeah, but that was breakfast. What about lunch?" His smile seemed to dim as he looked behind him at the other two only to see their blank stares. There was no back up there. "Whhhat?" he whined, dragging out the sound of the word.

"Where do you think the food is coming from, idiot?" the boy with the chicken butt hair hissed.

"B-but I'm hungry."

The mutt's blue eyes had the audacity to waste water in emotion.

"You should have thought about that before you decided to joyride in the back of my rig for a jaunt." Sakura took a half step back adjusting the weight of her body so that it was more evenly distributed and balanced. She could spring any direction in a moment if she needed to.

The blond looked down, rightly chastised. It was enough to make her almost regret her stern tone, so she looked away, off to where she parked her rig. Shielding her eyes through her visor with a hand above her covered brow she muttered under her breath. "I don't swing by the oasis for weeks. How do you think you'll get back?"

"We're not going back," the last boy stated, hearing her when she was sure none of them would. His words made the others perk up.

"That's what you say," Sakura groused, stalking off towards her rig. The three started to trail after her. "But I've never heard of this Kakashi fellow you're all looking for and I've a living to make. You should have planned better."

"There will be someone who knows. He is skilled. He will find us."

Sakura looked back, trying to match the voice with the face. It was hard to tell them apart sometimes even though they looked so different, but she was sure it was the stupid hair boy that said that last part.

"What the hell are your names again?" she asked, hoping she would remember this time.

"Naruto!" the blond cheered before either of his companions could open their mouths. He jumped up and pointed to the other two. "This is Sasuke!"

"Hn."

"And this asshole is Sai."

"You can call the blond dickless, he's still a virgin."

The blond turned bright red and started to squawk and yell while Sakura rolled her eyes behind her visor and turned back to her rig, not caring how they treated each other. Sasuke was the first to follow her, but Sai and Naruto were close behind, the latter running ahead of them all.

* * *

Sakura kept the bottom part of her mask up as she traded for the food with bullets. She watched the hands of the trader and the hands of his companion.

"Can't say I've heard of a Kakashi, but there are several nomad types that come through here. One eye you say?" The older man with scars down his chin and tattoos down his throat looked back over his shoulder before nodding. "But there are one or two that sound like they could be him. One has a glass eye, blown clean out in a raid, the other has a red colored eye. Accident leaked blood into his eye and it never turned back, or something like that."

"Did either of them come through here recently? He owes me money through a mutuel friend and I'm starting to think I got swindled."

"Eh, well the first one with the glass eye goes by the name Hoi and I've not seen him in a year or so. The other freak passed by before the last dust storm and he's pawned things from the aviation boneyard, so that's a good enough guess for where you might find him."

A heavy breeze made Sakura brace, pinning the cloth against the side of her face with her free hand, but it was the hand holding the food and the cloth flew free for a second before she could turn her head back around and hide her chin and lips again.

The desert was in her teeth, small grains just as rough and gritty as the sky. Sakura wanted to spit.

"Damn storms," she cursed, feeling the change coming. She looked back over at the man and nodded. "Boneyard then."

The man grabbed a cloth to wipe over his head, keeping his eyes on her the entire time. "They're both freaks if you ask me. Better off with company that appreciate what they see."

Sakura tensed at the drop in tone and drew faster. The man in the back fell with a hole through his face while the one in front of her reached for her mask, holding a needle thin dagger in the other. Sakura felt the elastic snap as she reeled back and pulled up the butt of her gun to knock across his face. Sakura screamed, bringing her gun down again and again, digging it into the man's skull until it was just as empty as the one she shot.

Heaving a breath, Sakura picked up the gun and box of bullets she had meant to trade before stacking them on top of her food. Her mask was hanging open, but her hands were filled. If someone was alive to see it they might have caught the black ink, but there was only blood and dust behind her.

She climbed back into her rig and deposited her goods on the seat next to her and pulled her vizor back in place, clicking on the secondary attachment that looked like a vulture's beak, hiding the lower half of her face from view.

There was shifting in the back and it was Sasuke that eventually peeked out from the trap in the back floor. "I heard shots. Are you okay?"

"I'm sitting right here. Of course I'm okay." Sakura reached over and grabbed one of the packed nutritional bars wrapped in old paper. "Give this to the mutt if he's still hungry. It tastes like shit and should kill his appetite for a while."

"Doubtful," Sasuke snorted, catching the food with ease.

Before he retreated and closed the latch behind him Sakura caught sight of Sai in the dim, watching her. The door closed but Sai's stare never wavered. Sakura had the suspicion he saw or knew something by the way he stared at her, but then again, he always looked at her like that.

Sakura reattached the wheel and put the gearstick back in place before revving the engine. She started to pull back onto the road but heard a muffled, 'I love you Sakura!' from below the metal.

She grumbled something, making sure her mask was in place before revving and accelerating.

There was plenty of road between here and there.

To the boneyard.

* * *

It was late into the night when she finally pulled over and parked. It was getting too hard to see the road in the moonlight and half her lights didn't work anymore. Sakura turned the seats around and spread out her spare cloak of feathers and cotton, sleeping with her wheel hidden under the cushions of her driver's seat.

Just when she thought she was ready to lay down and sleep the hatch creaked. She growled in warning and the hatch quivered, but raised regardless.

"Sakura?" Naruto whispered. "Are you still awake?"

"What do you need?" she grumbled, pulling her mask back on before sitting up and looking over the edge of the chairs.

"What was the gunshot for?"

"Ignore it. Go to sleep."

The hatch creaked and Sakura sighed, thinking that would be the end of it, but then there was the sound of scampering as Naruto pulled himself out. Sakura reached for the knife under the dashboard and tensed, but Naruto didn't come close enough to stab or attack. He seemed to be sensitive to her need for space. In the moonlight his blond hair seemed silver, and the frown never seemed deeper.

Sakura hated how her heart wrenched a little at the sight of his melancholy. "What?" she hissed, sitting up.

"Is it because of the food, because we ate so much?" he asked.

"Sasuke and Sai don't eat that much, just be clear and ask if it was because of your extra food," Sakura answered.

Naruto flushed, even in the silver light, and teetered from one foot to the other. "Was it because you had to stop for me? Was that the reason?"

Sakura pushed herself up the rest of the way and put the knife back under the dashboard where Naruto couldn't see it. "No, your food actually had nothing to do with it this time. I think I was recognized after asking about your Kakashi friend. You ever hear about an aviation boneyard from him?"

"The gas station?"

That would make sense. Sakura thought back to what she knew about the surrounding area. There were several pit stops one could pull a rig into, and may of them had stations for gas. When she had heard about the aviation boneyard she had forgotten about the gas station it sat next to. It had been dry for a while, and the well it tapped into hadn't functioned in years.

When was the last time she tried going that far out of the way?

If she went that far and found no fuel she could be stranded. Loosing a rig was second only to death in the wastelands. If she took them there she would need to refuel before, and that meant another venture with a trader who wasn't from the clasp. Anyone else was just as likely to turn her in for her bounty.

"It's a little out of my way and I need to refuel before then, but we'll check it out."

Naruto seemed in inflate with energy. "You will?"

Sakura glared through her mask, forgetting how the gesture was lost on the boy. "Don't keep asking for pit stops. It has already slowed me down more than I think I can make up with your flimsy bracelets."

"Those are gold, though."

Sakura waved a hand between them. "Gold doesn't feed anyone and it doesn't move my rig. Only a few idiots are stupid enough to think it's of any real value in the dead, dry world."

"You sound like one of those old world paladins or a veteran from the first wars."

Sakura raised a brow from under her mask and almost moved it off her face to look at him better. "Excuse me? A paladin? What the hell I look like to you? In case the gun and bloodstains didn't give it away, I'm a criminal, kid."

Naruto seemed to reel at the nickname and pulled himself up. "It's not a stupid guess, and I'm not a kid! Th-there are criminals who used to be important people in the old republics."

"And they're all as young as me?"

"I can't tell how old you are, you're always wearing a mask." He inched closer. "I don't even know what you look like and we've been traveling with each other for days now."

Sakura pulled the knife from under the dashboard out to flip over her wrist and lay across her lap. The handle was the color of bleached bone. "Maybe, but I only pulled you out of my back four days ago. You've been stowing away an addition two. And blame me if you want, but I've learned to not trust anything that moves, even if they are pretty to look at."

There was silence between them for a full minute, full of sixty painful seconds that felt so much longer in the silence. Sakura realized her mistake after about the first half of the minute and panicked for the other thirty seconds. Naruto's blush was back, but this time his eyes seemed to glow with new vibrance in the moonlight.

"Heh, you think I'm pretty to look at."

Sakura grimaced. "Don't let it go to your head, kid. You're from the president's harem, of course you would be pretty to look at. It's not a big deal."

"Do you like me, Sakura?" Naruto hummed, grinning wide.

It was Sakura's turn to flush. Underneath the mask no one could tell, but when she sputtered she was sure Naruto had an inkling. "Do-what a stupid question. Go back to sleep."

Naruto's voice was little different than a song as he rocked back on his heels. "Sasuke is going to be jealous when I tell him you have a crush on me."

Sakura picked up another ration and tossed it at his head. "Go back to bed!" she hissed. She didn't want to ask what he meant about the other boy being jealous-of what?-she just wanted him back down the hatch so she could sleep in peace.

Naruto snickered but did as he was told, scampering back over to the hatch an easing himself back down into the dim cavern below.

* * *

"Let me go with you this time."

Sakura turned around in her seat to glare at Sasuke. "No."

"Let me go." His face didn't change and his words were just as strong and unyielding. He didn't sound like he would change his mind after hearing her answer just once.

"You look like a skimp. I'm not taking you to the refinery to barter. What do you think you'll do, distract me?"

Sasuke narrowed his eyes but quickly turned around and reached out for something left behind in the lower chamber. He pulled out one of her old cloaks with the leather apron front and dropped it over his harem skirt. The gold tattoos were hidden and with a hood even his good face was partly obscured.

"Still no."

Sasuke was pulling on a spare set of boots and reaching for some old gloves. He looked like a mess of random items, and she guessed that's what he really was. He didn't stop assembling accessories even after she told him a second time.

"Sasuke, put that all back. You'll only be a distraction in there. I don't need another liability to look out for."

"Then give me a gun. I can protect myself."

Sakura's voice was shrill in spite of her intentions to remain calm. "No! I don't trust you to not pull it on me."

Sasuke almost looked upset by her reply, which was the first time she saw any other emotion on his face all morning. "We've been traveling almost a week together. What do you mean you don't trust me?"

"Did I stutter, asscheeks? I don't trust you and I don't need to. I don't trust anyone but me." Sakura jabbed her thumb at her own chest and waved her shotgun between them.

Sasuke almost flushed. Almost.

"Asscheeks? Where did that come from?"

Sakura rocked back on her heels, crossing her arms. "You bend over in a short skirt and people notice things. Sai was the first one to call you that."

"You were looking at my ass." He said it like he was proud of the accusation.

"You're as bad as Naruto," Sakura hissed. "Go back and wait down below with the others. Or stay up here and guard the rig. I don't care. You're not going in there with me."

Sasuke leaned in closer, eyes narrowed once more. "You're not going in there alone. Last time someone tried to kill you."

"Someone is always trying to kill you in the wilds. What did you think it would be like when you jumped ship from one of the only stable oasis communities in the red world? Brats, all of you!" Sakura reached for the door to her rig, intending to jump down but paused, hand on the handle. "I don't want any more eyes on me. Watch my rig for me, don't let her get picked up. That's how you could help me."

"What if you need help?"

"I've been doing this for years, punk. I've not needed help yet," she lied. There had been plenty of times she needed help and plenty of times she had used help or asked for help. But Sasuke didn't need to know any of that. He was already enough of a brat on his own without the added information.

"How long?" Sasuke asked through narrowed eyes.

"What?"

"How long have you been doing this?"

Sakura felt like she needed to leave. He wasn't going to let her disengage unless she just powered thorough and ignored all his questions. "I don't know, just years. I've done this long enough to know things. I'll be fine, I'm not buying much. I'm not worth the trouble of messing with."

Sakura turned the handle and opened the door a crack. Sasuke started to move towards her but she pointed the barrels of her gun at him. This only seemed to further provoke him.

"You were nearly shot last time."

"Not even close. I'm not that slow. Back off, watch the rig, keep the others safe."

Sakura pushed open the door and dropped down, feeling the scales of her armor shift and her lower face mask clink in place. She didn't look back, but trusted that the boy in her extra armor would do as she asked.

She heard the door close behind her and it was enough to make her smile when no other footsteps followed her. She crossed the parking lot to the old refinery where kegs and metal barrels were being sold alongside other goods.

As she said it would, the meet went fine and she paid more than it was worth, but got the fuel she needed. When she came back to the rig Sasuke was waiting eager and tense in the driver's seat. He left the rig behind to hop out and meet her, assisting in carrying the barrel to the fuel chamber.

"I told you it would be fine," Sakura said as they closed the hatch behind the barrel.

Sasuke watched her with half lidded eyes until she turned to face him. Then he looked away and muttered under his breath something that sounded like, 'hn.'

* * *

The aviation boneyard was what she remembered it being from years ago. The old flying boats still stuck out of the ground with their wings and tails a broken mess. There was an old substation and the office for the refinery plus several other buildings, but no activity.

Naruto ran ahead and Sai hung back when Sasuke took off after the blond.

"What will you do without us?" Sai asked, voice half it's usual volume. He watched her with the same unwavering eyes that seemed to always find her in the dark, even when metal came between them.

"I have work. More deliveries and transportation runs to make on the roads."

"Isn't that dangerous?" Sai asked.

"So is life." Everything in the red world was built up to kill them. Nothing was easy. Danger was everywhere from the dust to her bones to the teeth of the men and women of the road.

"Will you leave us here and go on your own, alone again?" Sai asked. He still watched her and Sakura couldn't help but feel his stare was different than the others. He was rude and used the language of an adult, but sometimes he felt like a child beside her.

"Let's see if this Kakashi guy is here first. I'll decide after that." Sakura nodded at the two boys running ahead of them and started to walk. Sai fell into step behind them. It was minutes later, when Sakura was close to the first substation house that she heard Naruto calling for her.

She didn't run, but quickened her pace a bit to follow his trail. Inside the building there was a net filled with boxes, cut open by Sasuke. Naruto waved a note.

"What day is it? What month?"

"Who keeps track of that?" Sai asked, glancing to Sakura.

"It's the middle of the Sick Season. We're a few days away from the Dry Season, and then comes the Storm Season, then the Dust Season."

Each of the seasons lasted 28 days and were named after the 13 evil gods of the old world. Sakura didn't track the days, but the seasons were easy enough to pick out from the stars. Travelers and traders needed to know such things.

"Why do you need to know this?" Sai asked.

Naruto waved the note again. "Kakashi said he would be coming at the end of the Sick Season for us. If we wait we'll meet him. And look, there's food here for us to live on!"

Sasuke was opening a book and skimming the pages. "It's the directions for working the refinery again. Kakashi thinks there's enough to pump." He looked up from the book. "You could help us with this!"

"A pump? Sakura asked, wrinkling her nose. "You don't know if I could do something like that."

"You fix your rig and know more than we do about how machines work. Wouldn't this make you money if you could process your own gas?" Sasuke asked, stepping closer to her with the manual. "Just until the season is over."

He wasn't wrong. Sakura would make more money that she'd know what to do with if she could get the pump working again to pull out her own oil for gas. It would be the thing that frees her from the cycle of poverty and survival. Wasn't that what she dreamed about? That and true freedom.

"Please, Sakura!" Naruto whined. "Without you we'd not make it. Just a little more. Please, it'll be good for you and we'd treasure you. We'd pay you!"

Sai reached out for her hand to hold but didn't say anything. Sasuke offered her the book.

Would the road be enough for her, or was it time to leave it behind?

Sakura reached up with her free hand and found the latch on the side of her mask and helmet. She loosened it and grabbed the underside before pulling the mask up over her face and back across her skull. The stray pink bangs fell across her face again, free from the scalp braids that kept her hair hidden from sight.

Naruto, for once, was speechless.

"Until the season is over," Sakura said, taking the manual in place of her mask.

* * *

You might remember this from Tumblr, but I've come back to it and I have two more chapters on what happens next. So have fun!


	2. Chapter 2

GAS STATION

Chapter 2

* * *

She could feel Sasuke's stare from across the room no matter how subtle he tried to be about it. Sai was the only one sneaky enough to get away with stealing peeks without her notice, but Sasuke thought he was sneaky enough to be daring.

Sakura ignored him and turned another page, only vaguely listening to the door opening behind her followed by footsteps.

"Wow, you can read all of this?"

Naruto was the opposite of subtle and he didn't seem to care. For better or worse, Naruto knew he was as bright as his freckles and as loud as his sky colored eyes.

Sakura leaned back so Naruto could move closer and pick at one of the pages. It had more diagrams on it than the others, but most of the labels were in an old language lost to the ages. It had been decades since Sakura last saw it herself, but was surprised with how much she remembered when she tried.

"What is this about?" Naruto asked, turning the paper upside-down.

"It's about refining the crude oil. If the oil isn't processed correctly it'll blow out the tanks." Sakura gently reached up to take the paper back.

Naruto made a face. "You mean we can't just put the black stuff from the ground into your rig and be good?"

"Not if your definition of _good_ is the same as mine. Making this place work is going to be a lot more complicated than just flipping on a few switches."

"All of this is on refining?" Naruto asked.

Sakura nodded, reaching for another folder of loose paper. The manuals were starting to get disorganized.

Naruto laughed nervously, cheeks tinting pink. "I barely know how to read _common_. Sorry, Sakura. I guess we're not as helpful as we promised to be."

That was when Sasuke made his presence known. He stepped out from the shadows of the far hall with one of her books held up.

"Sakura," he called out, earning Naruto's attention as well as hers. "I finished reading what you gave to me. I think your first idea was better than the alternative the authors were discussing. It'd yield more if successful, but is too risky for us to try right now."

Naruto frowned when Sasuke lifted his chin and glanced sideways at the blond.

Sakura pretended not to notice their silent exchange. Harem boys brought too much drama with them wherever they went and it was a headache to try and understand, much less deal with.

"Thanks Sasuke. Maybe in the future we'll feel confident enough to cannibalize the compactor from the junk yard, but for now we can let it sit."

Sasuke leaned against her table, seemingly making himself comfortable in the room as well as the conversation. "It's a shame we couldn't find a use for any of its parts, since we have no need for such a thing."

"We can be resourceful," she answered without looking up from her papers, "eventually, not just right now. It's not priority one."

"So…what's priority number one?" Naruto asked, sounding genuinely confused.

"Survival by establishing a solid shelter."

"We haven't?" Naruto asked.

Sakura paused in her reading to look up. "We've been here a week but this place is far from fortified. It's too out of the way to be an eyesore but we can't rely on luck keeping us safe. If someone rolled in here with their rig and war band, what would stop them from taking what we found?"

"You're worried we might be attacked here?" Sasuke asked. "It's been abandoned for years."

"Yeah, but we made tracks in this direction and I'm paranoid." Sakura looked back to her papers. "I'm not saying it's a huge risk, but it's what my gut tells me to be be careful of."

"I trust your gut, Sakura!" Naruto cheered.

Sakura suddenly felt unbalanced by his too loud cheer and too bright smile. She noticed how his cheeks dimpled when he smiled so wide and made the whole room seem warmer.

"Well, yeah, um, thanks for that I guess."

Sasuke huffed and it was loud enough for her to hear, but Naruto remained oblivious. "We can help with something like that. Even if we can't read old languages, we can do something as simple as constructed a structure."

"The walls around here are a good start," Sakura agreed. "And with the rations and Sai managing the hydroponics garden we won't have to worry about food once that takes off."

"It's perfect," Naruto cheered.

Sakura made a note of agreement but didn't smile or force her expression to change. "It'll work out well enough until your friend gets here. I'm hoping this Kakashi guy has a better idea of how to work this place and defend it."

"He will," Naruto hurried to admit. "I-I'm sure he would. He was smart enough to help us plan our escape in the first place. He's a super smart guy."

Sakura looked back at her table littered with papers and inwardly groaned at how disorganized and overwhelming they seemed to her after only a short conversation with someone else. She needed a break.

"Well, speaking of that kid, I'm going to go check in on Sai and see how his work is going. It'd be nice to have that food soon."

"Nothing grows that fast," Naruto laughed.

"It doesn't need to be grown to get checked in on," Sakura grumbled.

She stood, pushing the chair back. Sasuke pushed off the table and watched her walk off, but didn't follow her out with anything other than his eyes.

Naruto scampered out after her. "Wait for me!" he exclaimed.

"What do you need with Sai?" Sakura asked.

"Eh, that bastard? Nothing, I just wanted to follow you there."

Sakura kept her eyes from rolling. "You're not busy with something else?"

Naruto whined. "Why don't you want me to stay with you? Do you not like me anymore. I thought I was your favorite!"

"_Anymore_? What gave you the impression that I liked you in the first place?" Sakura teased with a scoff and flick of her wrist.

"You decided to stay, didn't you?"

Sakura felt some of her attitude shift. "It was a good business move. I'll have a better lot in life if I helped you here."

"Really?" Naruto laughed and it was a light sounding, delightful sort of laugh that made her heart grumble. "Sure, say that if you want but we know better. You stayed because you cared. You're a good person, Sakura."

She forced her face to stay as blank as her voice. "I'm a criminal, or did you forget that?"

"You're still a good person under all that, I can tell. You saved us even when it was hard."

Sakura didn't like the way her ears turned red or how, without her mask, Naruto was free to see how his words made her react. Even if he was too dense to tell, Sakura felt too exposed without the visor and helmet she had lived inside of for so many years. Life had been less hectic when no one could see her face or her expressions.

She had shown them her face once in a gesture of trust and good will, but the next day when she replaced the visor Naruto had protested louder than the others, though neither Sai nor Sasuke had remained silent on the issue. All three of them agreed that wearing any sort of mask unnecessary.

The only reason she listened to them was because they complained too much if she didn't. It's not like she cared any more than that.

Naruto followed her down to the lower levels where Sai had managed to turn on an old pump tapping into an underground aquifer several miles out. The piping was old but there wasn't any rust or decay to taint the water it brought in. The more of the boneyard they explore, the more value Sakura found, the more she worried. They had water, fuel, and a decent shelter comprised of several detached buildings across a semi gated plot of land. Who wouldn't want a piece of this part-way paradise. It was almost good enough to start a community on.

"Sakura."

She looked up when she heard her name and saw Sai watching her. His eyes always seemed to catch her off her guard.

"Just checking in on your progress. How is it going?"

"Nothing to show for my work as of yet, I am afraid," Sai answered.

"Is there anything more you can do here or can I ask you for something else along with Naruto here?" Sakura waved her hand over her shoulder in Naruto's direction.

Sai watched her with a tilt to his head that reminded her too much of a bird watching its potential next meal. It wasn't threatening, but it echoed of a past Sakura knew Sai was struggling to shake in comparison to Sasuke and Naruto. He wasn't dangerous to her, but he could have been.

"Is there a reason Sasuke was not included?" Sai asked.

"He's reading for me. I could ask you or Naruto to help out with that but I think you'd rather put your hands to use."

"Yes please," Naruto cheered behind her.

"What do you need?" Sai asked.

"Well, it's an aviation boneyard, isn't it?" Sakura asked. "Let's put those old birds to good use."

With an old generator they managed to power one of the two ancient cranes left behind on site. The crane was able to take and move the sheered off pieces of different sky birds and stack them up against the dilapidated walls, reinforcing them. Sai welded over sheets together to keep them in place while the rest were good enough being dropped into the ground. Enough of them stood out on their own, pointed up like knives partly sunk into red earth.

It took several days, but they managed to make a silver wall of scrap metal that stretched and then encircled the main compound. The crane didn't move much further and they didn't want to use up all their raw materials on double layered fencing.

Sasuke kept reading and Sai went back to maintaining his garden leaving Naruto to explore more of the compound and carve out better living spaces for them. Naruto had a good nose for finding things that could be useful. He was probably the one with the best luck out of all of them considering the scores of dry rations and materials he uncovered. By the time he found heavy artillery and a weapons cache Sakura wasn't even surprised.

"How do you use these things?" Naruto asked, mishandling a gun in a way that made Sakura fear for all their lives.

Sai reached over and grabbed for the gun, dislodging the magazine and pulling it harmlessly apart. Without breaking eye contact with the blond Sai slid the magazine back into place and fired off a round into the open expanse. Sakura heard the bullet hit and turned to see a scrap of metal left hanging on one of the larger pieces fall free, pieced through at the thinnest point.

"You know your way around a weapon," Sakura said.

Naruto cheered at the display while Sai easily holstered the small firearm. "More or less."

"We could live off the rations but I'd rather not if we can help it." Sakura then pointed to his gun. "Wanna use that?"

"For what?" Sai asked, voice too even to read.

"Not what you're used to, I'm sure," Sakura chuckled before walking off.

In the evening Sakura met Sai outside his quarters, dressed in her visor and armor. She tossed a spare set at Sai who caught it easily. He didn't need her to tell him to slip it on and he followed without being told once she started to head out.

Sakura pretended she didn't notice the way Sasuke watched them both from the shade of a nearby hallway.

Sakura and Sai exited the compound on a pair of bone bikes discovered by Naruto and fixed by Sakura. There were several more, but only two at a time worked with all the missing components between all the ones they found.

They drove parallel with the gas station, keeping their direction fixed until the dim light drowned the sky in dull colors. Sakura signaled to stop and they parked their bikes in the brush before walking the rest of the way on foot. She forged a path up the red rocks into an alcove that watched the valley below well enough. Then she got comfortable.

"It's not wise to hunt at night. Your visibility is hindered."

"It's the desert Sai, what do you think comes out during the day?"

He was quiet a moment more before answering. "Snakes?"

"They're not as gross as you would think but still not what I want. You live in the desert long enough you learn that it's most awake once the sun goes down and the earth goes cold. I'll be able to see well enough with moonlight. What about you?"

"I doubt I'll be able to match your example."

"I don't know. I've not met a lot of assassins but you're one of the better ones for making it this far on so little."

Sai bristled at her words and it was more refreshing to see than Sakura had expected. He was emotionless too often, it was a treat to see his feelings on his face.

"I'm not. I wore the same gold chains as Naruto and Sasuke."

"A good cover."

"It wasn't a cover."

"If you say so." Sakura didn't know enough to doubt his words, but supposed they could be true. Maybe he really had entered the harems after a life of killing for others. His tattoos were real, but so were his eyes. Sakura knew she wasn't wrong.

"I'm not like that anymore," Sai admitted after a long stretch of silence between them. "The others don't know. Don't tell them."

"I wasn't planning on doing that. It doesn't matter to me whatever you are, just so long as I'm not on your kill list." Sakura smirked under her mask. "Am I?"

"No such thing. I told you I gave that up. I'm not a killer anymore."

"That's a shame. Inside the citadel walls you might have been nice and safe on the bed pillows of a rich woman's lounge, but out here you're nothing more than teeth and steel, honey." Sakura pushed lightly against his chest, creating distance between them. "You think you can remember that or am I going to have to rescue you too?"

Sai didn't move, but watched her keenly as Sakura knelt down and then spread out to rest on her elbows. She had a longer barrel rifle she checked and aimed at the valley below, ready for an opportunity to present itself.

When she didn't say anything else, Sai knelt down and sat beside her in the dust and dirt, keeping his gun holstered. Then, "I'm not someone you have to rescue."

Sakura didn't say anything, but made a sound in her throat, encouraging him to continue.

"I wonder if you resent us for slowing you down. No matter how you look at it, even all together we can't match up to you. You're smarter than Sasuke, stronger than Naruto, and more skilled than me. You have to watch us with everything."

"You think I resent you?"

"Do you?"

"No one is an expert their first day on the job. Maybe you had a history before the harem, but my experiences have given me the edge you seem to envy. I've just been around longer and seen more shit. You guys are bright enough, you'll catch on in time." Sakura paused and frowned down the barrel of her rifle. "Well, maybe not Naruto, but the rest of you for sure."

"…Is…was that a joke?"

Sakura snorted into her shoulder, glancing up through her lashes at Sai from behind her mask. "What do you think?"

Sai frowned but kept his words to himself when he noticed the way Sakura's body went stiff. Her attention switched onto something down below in the valley and when he looked he saw what had her on edge. He heard the way she breathed in and held all the air in her lungs hostage, pausing time long enough to squeeze and crack the silence with her rifle's thunder. It echoed through the canyon. The rest of wildlife took off, leaving behind the limp corpse of two desert hares. Both had been shot through the skull with the same bullet.

"Finally, something decent to eat," Sakura said aloud before standing to make her way down and collect her game.

* * *

"Where else did you go?"

Sai looked up from his water plants and frowned. "That's it, I told you already."

Sasuke shrugged. "I didn't know if you were done talking or waiting for me to ask."

"You already asked, and that is why I answered you the first time."

"Hn."

Sai bent back down and worked the frown out of his expression, turning his face blank once more. It was becoming harder and harder for him to keep his features in check. Sasuke was the hardest to stay civil around. At least Sai liked Naruto, even if he did find the blond annoying. Sasuke was just a straight up elitist prick. Just because he came from a family with a name he thought he was better than others. Sakura didn't care, so Sai wouldn't either.

"When will she take you out again?" Sasuke asked after a long silence.

Sai didn't bother looking up this time with his reply. "I have no idea, but I assume she will let me know when she's ready."

"And when do you think that is?"

"I wasn't given a plan, Sasuke. Why don't you ask her yourself if you're so worried?"

"I'm not worried."

"Then go ask her and leave me alone."

Sasuke muttered darkly under his breath but pushed himself off the edge of the water bed and stalked off, arms shoved deep into the pockets of his pants.

He checked several of the less likely places before he found her in the main building reading in the office left behind by who was likely the manager or main operator of the gas station. She didn't look up when she heard him, but made a noise that let Sasuke know she was aware of his presence.

Her mask was gone, but a desert cloth was bunched up around her neck and face, obscuring her chin tattoos and lips. Apart from the mark in the center of her forehead, she was most sensitive about the colors on her chin, hiding them more than anything else on her face.

Sasuke's eyes were drawn to the book written in that strange language he couldn't read. "What are you looking at?" he asked.

"The seasons and their days." Sakura pushed the book away from her and met his eyes. "We're done with the Sick Season. We've been in the Dry season three whole days. Your Kakashi should have been here by now."

"Naruto did mention he was a late sort of guy, never on time for anything."

Sakura made a face, tugging up the cloth. "He does know your lives are very much in danger without him, right?"

"Not with you here they aren't."

"Yeah, but he didn't count on me sticking around, did he?"

Sasuke looked away before shrugging. "Maybe…"

Without her mask Sasuke was able to see how her brows drew together. "Sasuke," she called in a warning tone. "What do you mean by that?"

"I suppose there's no use avoiding it now, but it wasn't an accident that led us to your rig. Kakashi… indicated that you might be a better person than most on the road. Our chances were best with you, he said."

He was able to watch her shock bloom across her face, making her eyes wide and her brows high.

"What? I was the mark?" Sakura rubbed at her face and groaned. "What a ripe old bastard this Kakashi guy is. What the hell made him think that?"

"He was right, wasn't he?" Sasuke watched her for any new expressions. "You haven't thrown us to the wolves yet. And it's not likely we would have survived as well as we have if it wasn't for you."

"It makes me feel more paranoid that someone had watched me long enough to form an opinion on me and risk your lives on that gamble. I don't even know who this Kakashi guy is."

"He's a late old pervert, but he's a good guy." Sasuke ventured a step closer to where she sat and touched the book she had tossed onto the nearest surface. "He'll come."

"If you say so. It doesn't matter to me one way or the other, but I like knowing these things." Sakura leaned back and yawned, pulling up the fabric to cover her open mouth.

Sasuke couldn't help but chuckle. "I'm sure you do. Speaking of knowing things, do you plan on going out hunting tonight or even any time this week?"

Sakura yawned again. "No, I'm too tired for any more of that and it's not good to hunt so often. The wildlife needs time to recover. Why?"

Sasuke was quiet a moment longer. "Is…is there a reason you only take Sai out with you? I get why you wouldn't take a loudmouth like Naruto but…"

Sakura caught herself from leaning back too far and held herself stretched out, watching Sasuke's cheek color in real time. Slowly, she eased her chair back into an upright position.

"There's no special reason past the obvious. He already knew his way around a weapon fairly well and it was something he could do with his free time. You were helping with the research and Naruto…well, you were right about the hyperactive part. Were you interested in hunting?"

"I-I thought I might be decent at it. I've not used a gun before but I've seen the guards enough to know how they work I think."

Sakura pushed her chair back and stood, rounding the desk and heading for the door. She tapped Sasuke on the shoulder as she passed and waved him along.

"Come on," she called.

He hurried to follow her out to the stock room where several different gray colored crates were padded for weapons from a long ago time. Sakura took out a shotgun and a small handgun, passing both off to Sasuke. He held them awkwardly, as if they were pieces of glass that might combust on him without warning.

"The safety is on and they're not loaded," she explained before leaning him outside.

It was early afternoon and the sun made the earth hot. The sky stretched on forever, naked of cloud and bird. They walked across the grounds until they reached a ground sky bird. Sakura climbed up on of the broken wings and started to set up a number of cans and bottles she had picked up along the way. She arranged them along the wing and then hopped off.

"Is this…?" Sasuke gestured to his guns.

"Yup. You're gonna learn. Even if it's not to go hunting, it's better you know the _right_ way how to use these things." Sakura joined his side and guided him several paces back. "First, always treat a gun like it's loaded. Never be a jack ass about it, yeah?"

Sasuke nodded obediently as Sakura listed a few basic instructions before even showing him how to check for the safety. Then she modeled how to load and unload the gun before making him practice. She had him try several times more before turning him around to face the can collection.

"This is a handgun, but you're allowed to use both hands here."

Sakura came up behind Sasuke and moved his arms and then his hands for him, showing him how she wanted him to hold his weapon. She heard him catch his breath and ignored it. They were close enough with her arms over his.

"Like this?"

"Good." Sakura fit her hand over his and curled his fingers for him. "When you're ready, I want you to squeeze here. Aim and watch for where it travels. Ready?"

He swallowed and nodded. She felt how he adjusted his stance and fixated on the targets. His body was tense, but not so much that she was worried. It was good that he took weapon handling seriously. If he was a cocky asshole about it that could be his undoing just as easily as the wolds or the men from the bush.

Sasuke inhaled and squeezed, discharging the bullet. It cracked and shot out, biting the metal right underneath the wing.

"Adjust your aim. Higher."

Sasuke tried again and nicked the edge of the first can, but needed two more shots before he could shoot it off the wing. Sakura moved back and guided him through the end of his ammunition. When he succeeded he turned to her with a smile, honest and wider than she was used to.

"Now try the rifle."

Sasuke practiced more with the rifle, doing better with the handgun overall. Sakura had him drill each morning with her and again when no one was out and he was free. He showed himself to be a quick learner, but not so quick that he wasted bullets. He really was more than just a pretty face, after next thing she taught him was how to cast his own bullets and pack his own shells for the guns he used.

"What about the other guns in storage?" he asked her.

"I can't make bullets for those. It's better not to get used to something you're going to have to give up. The world doesn't fashion parts for them no more."

"Can you shoot with them?"

Sakura just shrugged. "Let's hope we never have to find out."

* * *

There you go, more Sai and Sasuke and Naruto in chapter 2. Chapter 3 is getting polished for this week, so that will be out soon. Chapter 3 has all the best parts though, just to warn you. :)

You might remember this from Tumblr, but I've come back to it and I have two more chapters on what happens next. So have fun!


	3. Chapter 3

GAS STATION

Chapter 3

* * *

More days passed and Sakura started teaching Naruto how to make repairs on some of the machinery left abandoned in the sheds scattered across the property. Some of them were unique enough to prove a challenge, but Naruto had a mind for puzzles that took her by surprise. It wasn't easy work, but Naruto fixated on it and took instruction well.

There was the skeleton of what had once been a bus, something smaller than her rig, with enough working parts to be worth repairing. Naruto was excited about what it would look like when it was done and begged her to help him with it.

"It'll take weeks to fix."

"We can do it though!" Naruto cheered, missing the point of her words.

Sasuke was close enough to hear them though, and watched Naruto drag her out with his smile and his words with something close to gratitude in his eyes. Sasuke kept track of the seasons and watched Sakura too keenly to miss how she watched the stars too.

Kakashi was more than just late, and the season Sakura had promised to spend with the boys was over and gone. But she was still with them and there were still enough things they needed her help with to keep her from leaving. The refinery was ready to come online and the refinery was just as close to being useful. They had turned it on the other day and been happy to see it not blow up in their faces.

"Here," Naruto said, taking her hand and leading her to the bus' body in need of repairs.

With a sigh Sakura pulled up her hair and shed her armor. Being the smaller of the two she got onto the wheeled board and slid under the bus to work alongside Naruto. She pointed and pulled at parts, asking him questions she knew the answer to in order to teach him.

"How did you get so smart, Sakura?"

"I survived. It just happens. You either make it or you don't. It's inevitable to pick up a few things after enough time." She looked over and saw Naruto watching her. They were close enough with their shoulders touching and the bottom bearing down on their noses. His eyes were bright in the shadows and just as clear as the cloudless sky. "You'll get there too, one day," she finished.

When she wheeled out Naruto followed and picked up the tools she passed to him. Together they bent over and worked on the engine and all its connecting components, learning more than fixing anything.

"What about this part? What does this do? What do you call this thing?"

Sakura took his questions in stride, answering them one by one until he was satisfied. They passed days that way. Sometimes Naruto never stoped asking questions, and other days he was fixated on the work and she was free to make her own repairs in peace.

One day in the middle of the Dry Season Sakura got caught up in the familiar work and started to go off on her own, doing things without speaking, drifting with her mind into an absent state until she was humming to herself, unaware. Before she could catch herself she was singing, soft and old and low the way they taught her to sing under the sun so many years ago. It was a song with a rhythm that children in chains could sing through the work they shared.

Naruto went still on the other side of the hood and watched until she pulled back, fingers stained black, and noticed the way he stared. She blinked and realized what he was staring at and absently pawed at her pants, trying to clean her dirty fingers.

"Sorry." She flustered. "I forgot where I was for a bit there. It looked like you're done there. Want me to look at it?"

"I like you."

The confession caught her off guard. She felt like she had been left without air in her lungs, and then she was digging for breath. "Wha-?"

Naruto leaned across the engine, eyes as bright as ever as he spoke with determination. "I like you! I-I like the way you hum and sing around me. I like the way you take care of Sai and Sasuke cause you're just that nice. I like your heart. You say it's nothing and that you might leave, but you're still here and I don't ever want to see you go. I like you, please stay here with me forever, Sakura."

Sakura wiped her hands backwards and forwards on her thighs, avoiding his eyes. She didn't have her mask but she reached for the sweat rag and started to tie it around her face, it only to hid the way her mouth wrinkled.

"You can't say that. You don't know anything about me."

"I know what kind of person you are. I-I may not know your past but I know who you are now."

"That's not enough," Sakura almost snapped, feeling real panic in her heart as Naruto watched her with nothing but honesty in his big blue eyes.

"Then what is enough? I can't love you unless I know your history?" he asked, sounding as hurt as he looked.

"You don't know what you're saying. You're-" she remembered what Sai and Sasuke teased him about, how he was the pretty young thing that was new to the harems and not visited by the lady president he had escaped from. What did he know of love?

"I'm in love with you."

"No you're not."

Naruto flinched at that. He swallowed and when he spoke his voice was soft enough to break. "Yes I am. I know I am."

"You don't know anything about me Naruto and you don't know anything about love. You're grateful to me and I'm the only one here you're sexually attracted to and you're too nice to see it that way so you just _think_ you're in love."

The hurt made his eyes shimmer and she saw tears but she didn't stop. She wasn't a kind person. He was wrong about her.

"Is it really that hard for you to believe that I-that I like you for you? I-you're a good person, Sakura. I like you and I've liked you ever since you saved us. You didn't cast us off. You fed me instead of dropping me on the roadside an-and you stayed with us."

"You're grateful, you don't like-"

"I've _always_ liked you but I love you right now, damn it!" Naruto shouted, cutting her off.

Sakura looked away like a coward, feeling horrible for how honest his words rang. She couldn't brush them aside so easily but he was too good a kid to know what sort of person she was or what she had been. What did he know anyway? Two seasons and he thought he had her down? That was nothing.

Naruto didn't move and neither did she.

"I believe you," she finally admitted. She swallowed. "But-sorry."

"Is it because of someone else?"

She didn't answer, but ignored his question. "I think you're ready to try living without me here."

Naruto's tears made trails through the dust of his face as his eyes went wide. She saw the fear and didn't care. Panic.

"N-no, no we're not. I-Sakura please don't say that. I-I-I can give you your space if y-you don't want to see me you don't have to. Don't leave. You need to stay here with us. Sasuke and Sai-"

"They can get by without me."

"They'd miss you too much."

"But the'll survive."

"What about me?" Naruto demanded, new tears filling his eyes.

Sakura looked away. "You'll be fine too."

"No I won't."

Sakura left the tools where they were, scattered and messy, and turned to head out, leaving the opposite direction of Naruto. He shouted her name again and called out after her, asking her where she was going. He followed her until the edge of the hanger where he could see her climbing up the ladder to the upmost section of the crane closest to the trash compactor, a place too high to tempt Naruto into following.

Stopping at the halfway point she could watch him turn and run off towards the main unit where the others would be. She didn't know if he would tell them or run to his room and cry on his bed like she imagined him doing. Sasuke would fight with Naruto if he heard. She wasn't an idiot and she wasn't blind-she knew better than to think Sasuke felt any differently from Naruto, he was just more cautious about it. Sai…she wasn't sure about Sai, but she thought if he felt things at all he might be upset, but he'd get over it.

"Stupid," she said to herself, sitting down to burry her head in her arms and hug her legs. It was hot and she was under the sun but she didn't care if she burned or peeled. She'd go back to armor and visors in the morning.

She felt the vibrations in the metal as someone climbed up the ladder and pulled himself onto the platform beside her. She inhaled and knew who it was before she looked up.

"What are you doing here?" she asked him.

"Naruto is crying in his room and won't open the door no matter how much Sasuke pounds. What did he say to you that was so bad?"

"What do you think?"

Sai nodded. "He told you then?" When Sakura nodded he went on. "And you turned him down."

"That and I said it might be best I leave,"

Sai's expression didn't shift. "I don't agree with that, but I know I can't stop you if I tried my upmost. That's the reason you shouldn't leave by the way."

"The reason I shouldn't leave is because you can't stop me?" She asked with a scoff.

"We're to weak for you to cast off. When we can make you sweat you can leave us."

"I'll leave whenever I damn well please, Sai. You don't control me and you don't get to tell me what to do. I'm my own person."

"Then why are you up here and not down there packing up?" he asked, voice as open as his expression. His eyes were clear and devoid of emotion, but she knew deep down he felt something for his family.

"Don't think that you can tell what I'm thinking or doing just like that," Sakura mumbled before burying her head in her hands. "I'll do whatever I want."

"Don't blame me for looking out for the survival of my family. You are our best chance. I can't stop you but I want to try, for all our sakes."

"You don't even know what-" Sakura's words cut off sharply and here eyes went wide. She stood, staring out across the desert past Sai.

"What is it?" he asked as he stood and turned. He saw the same thing she saw but he didn't know what she knew. "What is it? Kakashi?"

"Not with a rig like that, not unless you thought he was going to come to you with a whole war band. Get back to the rooms and arm Sasuke. With that speed they're going to ram the walls. Grab me a rifle, hurry!" Sakura snapped.

She climbed up the other half of the crane while Sai slid down its length and took off running. Sakura had a pistol in her waistband but no armor. The range wasn't good enough to fire from afar, but after she was high enough she could see the symbols through the sand and dust enough to recognize them.

"Of course I'd get lucky with a troop from the Sound," she grumbled before sliding down half of the crane again.

She was nearly on the original landing when she noticed Sai and Sasuke running out. Sai was less of a bird and more of a bullet on his feet and reached the base of the crane in no time. He threw up the rifle to her and she caught it before climbing again. Sasuke started to follow but she shouted at him to take cover in the sky bird and help while hiding.

"You're not even in your armor," Sasuke protested.

"No time for that now!" Sakura cried.

She took up a posting and aimed down the barrel of her rifle. The accuracy was good enough to rely on but she still hesitated. She saw the whites of their eyes through the scope and pulled the trigger. One of the drivers in a car next to the rig died behind his wheel, leaving the car to drift aimlessly into the side of the rig and crash. Sakura shot another one of the drivers but missed. She cursed and fired again, hitting him the second time.

Through the scope she could see a figure-a girl with pink hair- climb out of the back of the rig and stand on the roof. She heaved something up behind her and took aim. Sakura could see the wicked grin through her scope but didn't have time to know what it meant before something menacing boomed from her cannon.

The fire shot through the sky and impacted the framework of the crane, cutting into the metal just below where Sakura stood. She screamed a curse as the whole structure tilted and started to fall towards the compactor. Sakura dropped her rifle and had just enough time to climb through the bars and get above it before the rig rammed its way through and tore a hole through their wall. Sakura and the crane collapsed into the compactor. Sakura tumbled free, hitting hard enough to make a wet sound.

Her world was spinning but she looked up and saw the smooth sides of steel and an open, empty sky as vast as hunger. Her body ached but she forced her eyes to open. Her blood made the ground around her wet. It leaked through her shirt and made her stink.

The world still spun. When the Sound ravagers climbed out of their rig half of the group-two out of four-watched her struggle in the compactor with a look of glee.

Sick.

"Get the other one that shot at us and bring him here."

"Shit, the other one ran off."

"They're not gonna get away. It's a sandbox out here"

Someone laughed.

"Keep em in one piece, they're worth more that way."

Sakura looked up and saw Sasuke shoved down onto his knees, forced to watch. There were more words exchanged but they went fuzzy in her ears. She could see his face though, and his eyes were just as wet as Naruto's. Sasuke was crying. What for? Oh, yeah, she was a mess, wasn't she? He was probably scared for her, or maybe sorry he hadn't lasted longer.

The compactor turned on and the walls started to move. Sasuke screamed and tried to break away. She saw him reach for her, but the people around him were laughing as they held him back. The girl sounded like a hyena and one of the smaller ones laughed in spite of the red stain dripping down his shoulder.

"There's more than one inside the huts there I see."

"Shut up I want to watch this."

"Sick as ever, ha!"

Sakura saw the walls on either side of her, one stationary behind her and the other increasingly closer. They'd pinch her in soon enough so she rolled onto her side and pushed up, getting her legs under her and feeling all the broken parts of her back and ribs. Her legs were wrong and so was her shoulder. She was barely held together and in too much pain but she managed to stand, even as she leaked blood like a punctured bucket.

"Get up Sakura, get out of there! Sakura!"

Sakura staggered and slid back against the wall, breathing off. She wasn't going to be able to climb out. No human could without claws or a ladder. The walls were slick and smooth without handholds.

"Sakura!"

The wall was close enough to reach out and touch.

There was a gunshot that went off somewhere far away and then machine-gun fire she recognized. There was shouting and they moved away from her, dragging Sasuke with them. She heard the gunfire exchange and their curses, searching for the source of their friend's killer. Either Naruto or Sai had managed to even the odds.

Sakura closed her eyes and pulled at the fabric around her face. The wall came closer, never stopping.

* * *

Sasuke tried to get back to the compactor. The controls weren't far, but someone had a hand around his neck and there were two others between him and the control dock. The buttons blinked out, unfeeling as the walls came nearly together.

There was anything he could have done. He wasn't strong enough to shake them off, he wasn't fast enough to slip free. He wasn't smart enough to think of another way out that saved him and Sakura.

"Damn these brats," the tanned one with a spider tattoo on his face cursed. "Someone has a machine gun."

"No use crossing in the open until they run out," replied one of the twins.

"Where's that bitch with the rocket launcher. We'll mess them up!"

But before either twin could respond there was a terrible scratching sound from the compactor. All of his captors turned back in time to see the control panel flash erratically and spark. A portion went up in flames and the rest went dead.

The the scratching sound started again and Sasuke could see from where they kept him, how the compactor's wall started to roll back. It sounded horrendous, but it moved back steadily, like the operation was done.

"Sakura?"

It hadn't gone the whole way. It had stopped before it reached the end. Had that been enough to let her get by?

"Is it over?"

"Damn, I missed it."

"Look for the squished bits yeah," the girl laughed from somewhere on the other side of the rig.

The control panel sparked again and all the lights went out before the grinding stoped. Sasuke felt sick as the silence echoed in his heart. It wasn't fair. They had escaped after so much planning and practice. They had made it out and were never going to be used again. Now they were heading back to that awful oasis, but worse than just that was what it cost them. Sakura was…

The arm of the trash compactor that pushed the walls together screamed and sparks flew out of it before catching fire and smoking. Thick black clouds billowed from the engine and rolled upwards as it burned.

Sasuke heard the crunch of dirt as a new figure cut through the smoke.

"Sakon?" one of the twins called out.

But it wasn't Sakon.

The smoke shifted sharply with a new wind and Sakura was left standing in its place, looking bloody and dirty with soot caught in her lashes and streaked across her uncovered face. The dark lines down her chin stood out almost as starkly as the rhombus on her face that had turned into a black, open flower. Her wounds steamed, looking more like memories than injuries.

Sasuke felt light and lost as Sakura took another step closer.

One of the twins cursed first and pulled out his gun. Sakura didn't flinch as the bullet impacted. Blood stained the front of her ripped shirt, spreading out for the chest wound. Dully, she glanced down and then lifted her eyes again. They glowed with a ghostly green tint that stood out in a way no natural color should. Her eyes were like neon fires that cut through the haze and smoke.

The wind shifted again and the smoke changed with it, swallowing her up out of sight. The moment her eyes weren't visible the raiders opened fire, cursing and shouting as they unloaded their guns until the wind died down one final time.

The smoke thinned and her eyes cut through it all. She was still standing, but the flower on her forehead had stretched into thin black lines that ran all over her body. Each and every wound, including the one through her skull, sealed up and hissed. She was dirty and bloody but there wasn't a lasting injury left on her.

"My turn now," she breathed, heaving out a lungful of smoke colored red with blood.

She dashed and Sasuke couldn't keep track of how, but she was in front of them with her leg held high. It came down hard on the man with the spider tattooed face and he watched as the man's skull split open onto the ground. The girl screamed and the twins turned around to run, shooting back over their shoulders as they went.

Sakura reached down and ripped the man's skull apart with her bare hands and took a jagged jawbone, bloody and dripping with gore. She threw the jawbone at the first twin, sinking it into his neck and sending the twin to the ground-dead. Then she turned and dashed for his brother, catching him by the neck and yanking him back. Sasuke heard the way his neck snapped but Sakura still punched the body into the ground.

One of the smaller cars belonging to Naruto revved up. Sakura turned as a jeep roared to life and tore out of the garage straight for her. The man behind the wheel was larger with a coyote skull mask that had been pushed back over his head to show off his manic grin. He steered straight for her, but Sakura just braced in the dirt and dug in, hands extended.

"Sakura, no, run!" Sasuke screamed, still not believing everything he saw.

But she didn't move for him. She braced and caught the grill of the jeep, sliding with it until her heels caught in the earth. The rubber burned as the jeep went nowhere. When Sakura looked up her eyes were nothing but green, blazing and burning as she growled. With a heave, she pulled the jeep up off its wheels and lifted it up over her head. The she jerked it harshly to the side and the man fell free.

With the jeep still held up over her head Sakura turned and her shadow fell over him. He had enough time to look up and see her once more before she slapped the jeep down on him, crushing him into the earth.

The last girl cursed and then started to run back to her rig, fumbling with something. Sakura calmly advanced, bloody, dirty, and unharmed. With a shout the girl fired off something from the roof and Sakura saw it streak out in a trail before Sakura caught it in her bare hand. It exploded in her fist but when the blast cleared she was still untouched down to the last fiber of hair.

The girl screamed and ran, yelling something about old world monsters and jobs not being worth it. Sakura didn't chase, but it didn't matter. A new figure emerged from the back of their rig and his long silver rifle was enough to end the fleeing raider. The other girl fell without life and spilled blood from her head onto the red dust.

"Ma, ma, what a mess. And here I thought they'd be neater about all this."

Sasuke felt the shock in his bones when Kakashi stepped out of the back of the rig, shaking free some cut away rope from his wrists. The rifle had been replaced on his back, still warm from use. He saw Sasuke staring and waved, eyes crinkling as he smiled from behind his mask.

"Hello Sasuke. It's good to see you made it in one piece there," he laughed.

"Ka-Kakashi? You're here! How did you get here so late?"

Sasuke took a step towards the old man before he remembered Sakura and faced her. He wanted to run towards her, but the sight of her made his feet freeze up. Her eyes were darkly hooded but still glowed with green light as the black lines across her body stretched back, receding up into the open flower on her forehead.

Kakashi had smiled at Sasuke and greeted the younger boy, but he turned his face Sakura and closed his eyes in his smile, looking far more pleased to see her.

"I know I'm late, but I made it in time, didn't I?"

"Kakashi?" Sakura breathed. More of the red smoke escaped through her mouth when she breathed. "That was…you?"

Kakashi laughed and waved a hand playfully. "It's a name I'm using right now. You can feel free to call me whatever you like though, Sakura. Ma, ma, you look just as pretty as ever."

Something felt off to Sasuke. "Wait, Kakashi, do you know Sakura? I thought you were strangers."

More of the black lines crawled back up Sakura's body, up her arms and legs, her neck, and across her face. The flower on her forehead started to fold back up into a rhombus shape as Kakashi chuckled at Sasuke's question.

"Yes, I had you think I just was observing her from afar because I didn't want her hearing too much about me and running before I had a chance to catch up, but Sakura and I go _waaaaay_ back."

"You're old friends?" Sasuke guessed, watching as Sakura scowled and then stumbled as her flower finally sealed up.

"Well you could say that but you'd be wrong," Kakashi answered, watching as Sakura wavered on her feet.

Sakura staggered, eyes returning to normal. "How did you find me?" she asked before kneeling in the dirt, looking as exhausted as Sasuke felt.

Kakashi crossed the distance, faster than the eye could see, and caught Sakura before she could pitch forward. She pawed away from him, but the strength from earlier was gone and Kakashi's grip didn't slacken. He smiled down at Sakura in his arms and Sasuke felt even more wrong. She reached up and grabbed at his mask, tugging it down, but even with his face exposed, Kakashi didn't let go. The marks tattooed onto his chin stood out, stretching down his neck in the same pattern as Sakura's.

Kakashi just smiled.

"You were so hard to find, Sakura. You didn't make it easy for me, but what kind of husband would I be if I didn't track you down eventually? At least this time it'll be harder to slip away."

* * *

I know someone is going to want a sequel to this because instead of wrapping this up nice and neat I just went and opened a brand new can of worms for you at the end, didn't I? Sorry about that, but at least he finally showed up-better late than never.

What do you think their matching tattoos mean? Were they part of the same order/army/tribe? Are they marriage tattoos? Are they tattoos for power? Have fun wrestling with that one.

Will I come back to this? Probably not. But I enjoyed writing the next two chapters so much so never say never, eh? :)

Happy (almost) summer break if you're finishing up with school. I've got a month or so left but it's close!


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